


Endings and Beginnings

by StyxKid287



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, Marriage Proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-17
Updated: 2016-06-28
Packaged: 2018-07-15 17:09:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7231324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StyxKid287/pseuds/StyxKid287
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They had all known that there was a very good chance that this would be a suicide mission before they left New York. Now, it seemed as though their numbers were up.</p><p>or</p><p>How Person of Interest should have ended.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Endings

The situation was five thousand different levels of bad. The entire team was pinned down by a dozen of Samaritan’s top agents in a supposedly abandoned warehouse that actually held the main servers of the AI itself beneath it. Any backup they could call was either dead or too far away to make it in time even if they somehow managed to get a message out. Shaw spared a glance at Reese and Finch. The two men were crouching behind a set of crates to her right, and Harold was clutching a laptop to him for dear life.  
  
John had managed to talk him out of his self-destructive crusade and convinced the both them to join him in a final assault against Samaritan. Armed with every weapon they had stashed throughout New York and with help from those seeking revenge for Elias’ murder, they'd chosen to attack Samaritan’s main base in South Africa. Shaw had been more than willing to lead them back to her former prison in hopes of getting vengeance for both herself and for Root.

Root. Shaw had tried to avoid thinking about Root since her death and the uncomfortable thoughts and feelings that arose when she did. However, throughout the firefight Root had been the primary focus of her thoughts. The main one being that Root should be here. It felt wrong being in a battle with stakes this high without Root with them. She should be here, gun in each hand, shooting bad guys and spouting awful pick-up lines. Instead, she was dead and buried beneath an anonymous gravestone.

After nearly half an hour of exchanging fire, both sides were growing tired and nearly out of ammunition. However, the door the lead to Samaritan’s servers was open, and fresh agents would come pouring into the room at any moment. Meanwhile, the handful of men loyal to Elias were all they had with them, and many of them were down for the count. They had all known that there was a very good chance that this would be a suicide mission before they left New York. Now, it seemed as though their numbers were up.

Just as Shaw fired the last round in her last magazine, the warehouse’s southern windows shattered. Smoke canisters landed between the warring teams and blinded both sides. Shaw looked at Reese again with an expression that clearly said ‘What the hell?’ He shrugged in response before whispering something to Harold who also shrugged. Both sides had stopped firing when the canisters landed, so the sudden sound of gunfire startled everyone in the room. Shaw carefully peeked around her crate to see what was happening.

Several armed men, mercenaries by the look of them, had landed amid the smoke and were mowing down Samaritan agents left and right. Once the last agent fell, the leader gave the hand signal for them to halt before turning to face Shaw. The smoke had cleared enough for them to safely take off their gas masks, and he did so to reveal a familiar face.

“Root?!”

Shaw’s body acted on its own. Her mind was moving through too many thoughts for her to realize that she was moving towards Root. It was only after she’d landed a powerful right hook did she find her voice.

“What the fuck, Root?! The team thought were dead! The Machine took your voice because she thought you were dead! I…I thought you were dead.”

The last sentence came out softer than all of the others. Shaw’s anger faded leaving behind those confusing feeling she’d tried to avoid when she believed that Root was dead.

“Alright. I might have deserved that,” Root stated calmly while rubbing her jaw. “I’m sorry I had to do that to you, Sameen. I needed to disappear for a while, and I couldn’t let Samaritan know where I was. That meant that you all and the Machine had to be kept in the dark as well.”

Shaw accepted Root’s response. She still didn’t like having been lied to, but she understood the logic behind Root’s actions. She looked behind Root at the team of mercenaries she must have hired. They all looked nothing less than professional and highly trained. It must have taken a small fortune to get them here. Root had paid a small fortune to get them here and save them.

Now that her initial alarm and anger had faded, a feeling of overwhelming relief filled Shaw. Root was alive. Root was here, standing in her armed to the teeth and ready to help defeat Samaritan once and for all. It was then that something clicked within Shaw. It was as if the world was no longer moving in slow motion as it had been since Root’s apparent death. She could move forwards again. All she had to do was take a step.

To Reese and Finch, the kiss that Root and Shaw shared looked exactly like the one they witnessed at the Stock Exchange. Shaw wrapped her hands around the straps of Root’s Kevlar vest and pulled the taller woman into a powerful kiss. Unlike the previous one however, it did not mark the beginning of a long separation but of a reunion instead. It was also much longer. So much so that Harold had to clear his throat rather loudly to get them to come up for air.

“While it is fantastic to see you alive and well, Miss Groves, I believe have a pressing matter to attend to at the moment.”

Root’s smile remained in place in spite of the interruption. She gave Shaw a final wet kiss on the forehead, eliciting a soft grunt of displeasure.

“It’s nice to see you too, Harry. My team has ammo and med kits for those that need it, and they’ll be more than happy to escort us downstairs.”

Root gave a quick gesture with her head, and two of the mercenaries went to find and treat the wounded. The rest followed Reese to the door that led to the basement, all of them reloading as they went. Shaw made a move to follow them, but Root held her back.

“I need to talk to you.”

“Can’t it wait, Root? We’re kind of in the middle of something important.”

“It’ll only take a minute. I promise.”

Shaw sighed and turned to face Root only to find the taller woman down on one knee.

“I’ve been thinking a lot about today for a while now. There are so many things that can go wrong even now, and there’s no guarantee that we’ll all make it out of this alive. Then, I started thinking about what would happen if we succeed. With Samaritan gone for good, what would that mean for the team? What would that mean for us? We lost a lot of time, Shaw. I was ready to burn down the world to get you back, and I promised myself that I’d never let you go again when I did. This is me not letting go. Sameen Shaw, will you marry me?”

Shaw should have seen this coming. She should have known that Root was going to pull something at the worst possible opportunity. For once, Shaw was the one looking downwards and into Root’s eyes. They were Shaw’s favorite thing about her even if she never said it aloud. On the outside, Root was secretive and confusing majority of the time, but her eyes were always honest when she looked at Shaw. They gave away whatever she was feeling at the moment, and right now they were pleading. Root had taken a gamble with this proposal, and her eyes were begging Shaw to say yes.

Unlike most little girls, Shaw had never dreamed of getting married even before her father’s accident. The average fantasy of a husband, kids, a dog, and house with a white picket fence had never appealed to her. Well, the dog part had, but everything else seemed stifling. But nothing about Root was normal or ordinary, so there was no way a marriage to her would be either. She wasn’t excessively emotional or clingy. She understood Shaw’s need for solitude from time to time. And she was hot and good with gun. In all honesty, there was little to no downside to marrying Root, so she’d have to be an idiot not to say…

“Yes.”

Root stood up quickly and kissed her future wife. It wasn’t slow and sappy like the ones in movies that Shaw’s college roommate adored. It was solid like a seal to a promise that both vowed to keep. When they broke apart, Shaw’s arms were wrapped around Root’s waist, and their foreheads were pressed together.

“You’d better not hog the covers,” Shaw whispered bluntly.

Root laughed and pulled her closer. “Thinking about a honeymoon already, Sameen?”

“Maybe. Aren’t I supposed to get a ring or something first?”

“Well, I know you don’t care much for jewelry, so I got you these instead of a ring.”

Root reached into the pocket of her jacket and held up a simple ball chain with two dog tags hanging on it. She carefully placed them around Shaw’s neck who immediately ran her thumb over the raised text on one of the tags. Rubber silencers were wrapped around each one, preventing them from clinking together, and they read:  
  
SHAW  
S.    AB POS  
284 36 7159  
USMC S  
MACHINE

GROVES  
ROOT  
536-78-9201  
O POS  
MACHINE

Shaw was at a loss for words. For one thing, she wondered how exactly Root had gotten her information but soon dismissed her question. Root was a force of nature when she had a goal in mind, so she wouldn’t let a simple thing like classified ISA records stop her.

“I figured they’d help on those bad days. Both the ones when you’re missing me, and the ones where you have trouble believing that this is real. I have the other two for the same reasons.”

To prove it, Root tugged on the hidden chain around her neck and pulled the two dog tags out to rest on top of her vest. She then handed Shaw the reloaded rifle hanging on her shoulder and took her free hand.  
  
“Now, come on. My team and the big lug can’t have all the fun against Samaritan, and I personally can’t wait to see Greer’s face when I show up to put a bullet in him.”

Shaw couldn’t help but laugh as she ran after Root into the unknown of the basement. If the rest of her life with Root was anything like this, being married wouldn’t be so bad after all.

 


	2. Beginnings-One Year Later

_“I hate you so much right now.”_

Root had heard this statement from Shaw many times in various languages for various reasons. Today, it was in Farsi, and she may or may not have deserved it.

After defeating Samaritan and holding the quickest wedding in history, Root and Shaw set out together to clean up the messes Samaritan left behind. The missions had taken them around the world and back within a year, and they weren’t close to being finished. However, some missions went a lot smoother than others.

_“Of all the integrators we had to get, we got the one that smells rancid meat.”_

They were currently being held captive in Tokyo, and their captors were yakuza that were once on Samaritan’s payroll. Both women were suspended from a pipe in that basement of a safe house and had been poorly questioned by a man that enjoyed garlic a little too much. Physical torture yielded no results from either of them, and neither gave away that they spoke English. When he spotted the dog tags around Shaw’s neck, he’d tried to yank them off only to fail. Both of their chains lacked a clasp, so the only way to take them off was to lift them over their heads. The gang member attempted this and nearly lost his ear.

 _“I fail to see how this guy’s bad breath is my fault,”_ Root replied in the same tongue.

_“It’s your fault because your bullshit plan is the reason we’re down here.”_

_“We had to get in somehow, Sameen. It was this or the sewers, and I thought this plan would be stink free.”_

Their conversation continued for another five minutes before their imprisoner got fed up. He left the room to either call his boss or to find a better interrogator. Once the door to the basement slammed shut, Root and Shaw looked at each other before studying the rope around their wrists.

“First one to get free gets eaten out tonight,” Root challenged.

Shaw chuckled and kept looking at the rope. “For how long exactly?”

“Tap out or pass out as usual, sweetie.”

“You are so on.”

* * *

“You cheated,” Shaw said for the umpteenth time since they’d gotten away from the yakuza.

Root continued to drive through Tokyo with a satisfied smile on her face. “I did not cheat.”

“Yes, you did. You never told me that the edges of our tags were sharpened.”

“You never asked.”

Shaw continued to grumble until they pulled up in front of a hotel.

“We’re staying at the Imperial? Root this is—“

Shaw was cut off by Root’s kiss which lasted until the cars in line behind them started to honk their horns.

“Happy anniversary, Sameen.”

A year ago today, Root had proposed just before they defeated Samaritan together, and Shaw hadn’t remembered. In all honesty, she hadn’t known what day it was a year ago. She’d avoided sleeping the entire week between Root’s fake death and her proposal, so the days had run together. Afterwards, they’d been too busy to worry about something as trivial as a date. Root knew that Shaw didn’t remember the date, but had planned a surprise with the Machine’s help anyway.

Root’s relationship with the Machine had also changed throughout the year. She’d be extremely touched by the fact She had chosen to use her voice and was glad to hear Her continue to do so. The other members of the team were not as pleased especially when Root began teaching Her how to have a sense of humor. Shaw was their main target. She never knew if it was her wife or the Machine on the other end of a line, and they also enjoyed talking in her ear at the same time to get a rise out of her.

Root passed the keys to the valet and threw her arm across Shaw’s shoulders. The smaller woman no longer shied away from Root’s contact and let limb remain in place. She also knew that Root was trying to mask the limp caused her sprained ankle. She hid it well up until they got into the elevator. A well placed glare from Shaw kept a family of four out leaving them alone the entire way up. When they finally reached their floor at the top of the tower, Shaw noticed that the hallway was empty and scooped Root up into a bridal carry.

“Which room?” Root didn’t say anything and simply looked gleefully at her wife. “Don’t get sentimental on me, Root. I’m just doing this to keep you off your ankle. It probably looks like a grapefruit, and I’m going to have to cut your boot off when we get in the room.”

“I love it when you get all doting on me,” she replied before placing a kiss on Shaw’s cheek. “We’re in room 653.”

As much as Shaw was loathed to admit it, the year she'd been married to Root had been the best year of her life so far. The missions had given her a purpose. They'd allowed her the chance to remove any and all remaining traces of Samaritan from the world. Best of all, being with Root was easy. Sure, the taller woman irritated her in some way every day that they were together, but their relationship wasn't complicated. Root didn't expect grandiose gestures of love and affection. The only thing she'd demanded of Shaw was her respect, trust, and honesty all of which Shaw was more than willing to give. Once they the room, Shaw let out a low whistle. The room-no suite was a major step up from safe houses and road side motels. She didn’t even want to know how much all this costed.

“The Machine and I figured that we could use a break after cleaning up after Samaritan all year,” Root said as if reading her mind. “Make a left and head to the bathroom.”

Shaw did as directed and entered the bathroom. The enormous claw foot tub was already filled and waiting.

“A bubble bath, really?” she asked as she placed Root on the toilet seat and they began to help each other undress.

“I asked the Machine to have a hot bath ready for us when we got here. Bubbles keep the water warmer longer just in case we were late checking in.”

“And the rose petals?”

“That one is all on Her.”

Shaw rolled her eyes at this. An ASI that likes to be romantic. “Of course it is.”

Root watched Shaw strive to carefully remove her boot. A year ago, she’d imagined dozens of futures after their fight with Samaritan, but none of them came close to reality. Sure, she’d pictured being married to Shaw before, but she never expected they’d make it this far. Truthfully, she’d expected Shaw to tell her that marriage wasn’t her thing and to disappear without a trace. But she didn’t. She’d stayed and made Root wonder why she’d ever doubted her in the first place. Shaw had turned out to be the most loyal and devoted partner, and Root was proud to know that she was hers. Without a word, Root wrapped her fingers in Shaw’s hair and tilted her head up into a passionate kiss.

“What was that for?” Shaw murmured once they broke apart.

“Just because, sweetie. Just because.”

Shaw shook her head and finished removing Root’s boots and pants. Her ankle was not as swollen as she’d suspected, but it still looked painful. After wrapping the injury as tightly as she dared, Shaw carried Root to the tub and let it rest on the edge with a towel beneath it. With Root’s leg elevated, she had no choice but to sit in front of Root. It was then that the hacker noticed the bruises along Shaw’s back.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“You would have tried to walk on that ankle if I had.”

Root placed a soft kiss on her wife’s shoulder blade and pulled her closer. Shaw rested her head on Root’s shoulder, and both of them closed their eyes. A comfortable silence followed as the warmth and sweet scent of the bath soothed their aching muscles and made them fall asleep. The couple dozed peacefully in the water until the Machine informed Root that room service had arrived. After waking Shaw, the two gently washed each other before exiting the tub. They donned the incredibly soft hotel robes and entered the suite’s dining room to find two trays, candles, and wine spread out on the table. Shaw looked at Root and raised an eyebrow at the romantic setting.

“Alright. This one is on me,” Root confessed.

After helping the taller woman to her chair, Shaw lifted the lids off the trays to reveal two perfectly cooked Kobe beef steaks with potatoes and asparagus. Grins broke out on both of their faces.

Throughout the past year, Shaw had taught Root the joys of food. Before her, Root had considered it an annoying but necessary task and had a habit of skipping meals. Shaw had taught her to take time out between missions to actually enjoy eating different types of foods. Together, they’d discovered Root’s weakness for spicy foods and anything covered in barbecue sauce. She’d even taken to cooking when they were in one place long enough. Root had learned to cook for herself at early age but rarely did so after leaving Bishop. Now, she enjoyed cooking for Shaw and watching her devour whatever was prepared.

Root and Shaw devoured the meal in front of them in a matter of minutes and polished off the entire bottle of wine. Sated and content, they staggered back into the bedroom, leaning on each other the entire way. Once there, they discarded their robes and crawled into the soft king sized bed wearing nothing but their ever-present dog tags. They then easily slid into their usual arrangement of tangled limbs and Shaw’s chin atop Root’s head. Just as Shaw was drifting off, she heard her wife’s drowsy voice.

“I haven’t forgotten our bet, Sameen. But I’ll be nice and wait to cash in on it tomorrow.”

**Author's Note:**

> This story has been a thorn in my side for about two weeks now.


End file.
